


I Don't Need To Read Billy Shakespeare

by fortunehasgivenup



Series: And did you know that I'm wild for your skin [9]
Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: AU, Domestic, Drunk Sex, Established Relationship, F/M, Oral Sex, Post-Divorce, Tattoo AU, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-07 21:41:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20824238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortunehasgivenup/pseuds/fortunehasgivenup
Summary: The kids go back to school, throwing everyone’s lives into chaos.





	I Don't Need To Read Billy Shakespeare

The start of the school year was a hectic time for everyone and it was difficult for Beth and Rio to spend time together, though they did their best to talk every night, catching each other up on their days. 

On Monday night, Rio called from the hallway once Marcus was asleep, exhausted after spending the better part of an hour calming him down. Tuesday morning, Beth messaged him a photo of all the kids in their first day of school outfits, receiving one of Marcus in return. Wednesday, it seemed like they played phone tag all day, only catching each other once Beth was getting ready for bed.

It took until Thursday for Beth to have some time to herself when she wasn’t rushing to complete a task or pick someone up. Looking around the office she'd just finished reorganizing, she put her hands on her hips and cracked her back.

She checked the clock. 11:42am. There were hours before she had to be anywhere and as much as she wanted to take a nap, she knew that it would mess up her sleep schedule.

Rubbing her back, her belly grumbled. Food then.

Beth stopped in front of the big calendar on the wall and scanned it. Kenny’s activities in green. Danny’s brown. Emma’s purple, Jane’s blue. She’d added Marcus in orange, Rio in red. With the shop being open six days a week, he kept an odd schedule, worsened by the appointments he’d take after hours for clients.

But today he finished at 4:30. Surely he had to take a lunch break, she reasoned.

Beth grabbed her keys. She could stop at the burger place he liked on the way there.

When she walked into the shop a little while later, there was a woman that Beth had never met behind the counter.

“Can I help you?” The woman asked, the piercings in her lips drawing Beth’s eye.

“Hi,” Beth said reflexively, “is Rio in?”

“He’s not taking appointments at the moment,” the woman told her, already dismissing her.

Beth laughed a little self-consciously. “I’m not here for an appointment.” She held up the bag. “I brought him lunch.”

Understanding dawned. “You’re Elizabeth!”

“Guilty as charged,” Beth said, holding out her hand. “Just call me Beth. And you are?”

The woman’s grip was firm. “Jordan, everyone calls me Jojo though.”

“Jojo?” Beth asked.

“Yeah, it’s what happens when your name is Jordan Jones. Rio’s just wrapping up a session,” Jordan glanced at the clock, “so I can’t let you in without the client’s permission. Want me to ask?”

Beth shook her head. “No, I’m good.” There was a reason she didn’t accompany Annie to her appointments beyond the consultation.

Jordan smiled and came around the counter, herding Beth to the chairs.

“Stef’s gonna be mad that I met you first,” Jordan said, taking a seat. “We’ve all been dying of curiosity and Jesse’s been useless beyond telling us you have a great rack. Which, while true, does not tell us much.”

Beth buried her cough in her shoulder.

“He’s twenty-two,” Jordan sighed. “We’re trying to polish him up to go out in the world without being a weirdo.”

Beth fought her smile. “How’s that going?” She asked.

Jordan groaned. “We’ll see. So how did you and Rio meet?”

“Oh, my sister’s getting a tattoo from him,” Beth answered. “I came in with her.”

“I thought your kids knew each other?” Jordan asked, moving a stack of papers to the side. “I’ve heard all about Jane from Marcus.”

Beth nodded. “Turns out that they were on the same soccer team.”

“Small world,” Jordan remarked. Her head tilted, like she was listening for something. “They’re on their way out.”

Beth turned her head down the hall to see that Jordan was right.

“Hey,” Rio’s face warmed when he saw her, “what are you doing here?”

“Thought you might be hungry,” Beth said, holding up the bag. Rio reached her and still smiling, bent to kiss her.

“Starving,” he said. “I’ve got some clean-up, but how about you go upstairs and move some shit off my desk? We can eat up there.”

“Okay,” Beth agreed. “Nice to meet you, Jordan.”

“Jojo,” Jordan corrected.

“Nice to meet you, Jojo,” Beth repeated.

The steps were just as creaky as she remembered and the desk a little messier. Thankfully, it was still well organized, so she felt safe stacking a few different files and moving them off to the side before starting to unpack the food.

She heard Rio coming up the steps, but didn’t turn around or even make any indication that she’d noticed him until he pressed himself against her back.

“Remind you of anything?” He teased, running his hand over the desktop.

Beth leaned back against him. “Should it?”

After squeezing her hips, he let go and grabbed a stool so they could both sit. “No one ever brings me food,” he said, smiling. “Except for my mom in the first year I worked here.”

Beth pushed his burger towards him. “No mustard.”

“You do know me,” he said, starting to unwrap it. “What have you been up to?”

She told him about her day, then turned it around on him.

He shrugged. “Not much. Marcus isn’t a big fan of his teacher, although it might just be nerves over being in first grade now.”

“I’m sure he’ll settle in,” Beth assured him. “He’s an adaptable kid.”

“Yeah.”

“More so than his dad,” she teased, nudging his shin with her foot.

Rio smiled. “He’s a smart kid. I just don’t want him to have a bad experience and then feel like -“

“Feel like?” She leaned over and put her hand on his forearm.

Rio blinked. “Like he’s not welcome at school. I had some shitty teachers,” he answered her question before she could ask it. “Not enough of them to completely ruin it for me, but it was close for a while.”

Beth nodded.

“You were a teacher’s pet, weren’t you?” He looked at her.

She groaned. “Not quite. They all thought I was a “very good girl” but between my mom and all that, my grades weren’t quite high enough for them to love me that much. There was a lot of talk of wasted potential.”

“Please at least tell me you were a cheerleader or something,” Rio teased.

Beth shook her head. “Sorry to let you down. Didn’t make the squad.”

He perked up. “But you tried out?”

“In ninth grade,” Beth admitted. “The time commitment was too much.”

Rio nodded, taking a sip of his drink. “You got the little outfit?”

Beth looked at him. “Rio, that was decades ago. Even if I still had it, I’m pretty sure it would not fit. At all.”

“That’s a shame,” he said, looking her up and down. “Good thing you know how to sew.”

Beth groaned. “Men,” she muttered.

Rio just laughed.

“You should come home with me for dinner,” Beth said.

Rio’s expression was pleased. “Yeah?” She nodded. “Sounds good. Don’t have Marcus ’til Saturday.”

“I know,” Beth reminded him. He wasn’t the only one capable of remembering custody schedules. She studied him. “What do you normally eat when he’s not around and I’m not feeding you?”

He laughed, reaching over to pick up her hand and playing with it. “I do know how to cook well enough for me and Marcus to survive. I just make the stuff he doesn’t like when he’s not around.”

“Oh?”

“Like fish. He’s in a phase right now, doesn’t like fish.” Rio flipped her hand over to trace the lines on her palm.

“I like fish.”

“Yeah?”

Beth nodded.

“Then I’ll have to make you dinner, just the two of us sometime.” Rio smiled.

“That sounds nice,” she replied, then glanced over at the clock. “You have any other appointments?”

“Yeah,” Rio stood and held out his other hand to help her up, “but not for another half hour, so I don’t need to rush you out.”

“Unfortunately, I should probably go get some things from our sprinkle supplier,” Beth sighed.

“You have a sprinkle supplier?” He was chuckling as he kissed her. “Of course you have a sprinkle supplier.”

Beth tried to glare at him, but she couldn’t maintain it for long before she had to laugh too.

“You have to do pick-ups?” Rio asked.

Beth nodded. “Some. Kenny will get a ride to swimming with Jack, so he’ll get dropped off before dinner. Jane got invited over to Nadia’s for after school snack and a quick playtime. Just need to get Danny and Emma.”

“Want help?” Rio cupped her cheek and kissed the bridge of her nose. “Or I can meet you at yours.”

“Second one,” Beth replied. “Can you pick up some juice?”

“What kind?”

“Apple.”

He nodded. “Apple juice it is. Anything else while I’m at the store?” He paused. “Condoms? I’m almost out.”

Beth still couldn’t stop herself from flushing at talking about sex so openly. She had four kids, for god’s sake. “Maybe,” she started slowly, “we keep some around, in case we don’t feel like…”

“Cleaning up?” Rio offered with a gleam in his eye. Beth jerked her chin up. “I can do that. Kids with Dean this weekend?”

Beth nodded.

“I’m getting Marcus on Saturday. Dinner tomorrow night? Just the two of us?” He asked, then seemed to remember something. “It’s Housewives, isn’t it?”

Beth could admit that it sounded nice. “I could do dinner and a sleepover if you’re good with entertaining yourself for a couple of hours when Annie and Ruby are over?”

Rio ducked down so that their faces were even. “Who said anything about a sleepover?” He bit her lip before she could say anything. “I’ll walk you out.”

—————

After his last appointment, Rio left for Beth’s, detouring to the grocery store.

When he saw that Annie was working, he picked her line. She looked at him, looked down at the two items on the conveyor belt, then back up at him.

“I didn’t want you to think I was avoiding you,” Rio said.

She narrowed her eyes as she scanned the box of condoms. “There are things I don’t want to know about you,” Annie said.

Rio raised a brow. “Really, because your sister said something about you demanding specific details.”

“Yeah,” Annie snapped, “when I didn’t think we’d be sitting at the Thanksgiving table together, dude!”

Rio coughed. “What?”

“Thanksgiving is a big thing in Beth’s house. She sends invitations that she makes you RSVP to,” Annie pointed to his total, “and the year that I didn’t, she pretended that she didn’t have enough pie even though there were three more in the fridge.”

Rio reached up to scratch the back of his head. He hadn’t really thought about Thanksgiving. It was still months away, and he normally just went to Lora’s. He handed Annie the cash and waited while she made change.

“You need a bag?”

He shook his head. “I’m good. Still on for next week?”

“Yup,” Annie nodded. “You can inflict more pain on me. It’ll be fun.”

Rio left with a wave over his shoulder. He got to Beth’s as she was taking a box out of the back of the van.

“Sprinkles?” He asked in lieu of hello.

“Sprinkles,” she confirmed, sticking her foot out to trip the sensor and shut the trunk. “Did you get the -“

He held up the apple juice.

“Thanks,” she said, smiling up at him. “Can you put it in the fridge?”

“Yup.” He opened the door to the kitchen and did just that. “Danny and Emma here?”

“They’re both having some quiet time,” Beth said. “I think Emma might be doing homework.” Grabbing a knife, she slashed the tape on the top of the box and started to unpack vials of sprinkles.

Rio held one up to look at the mix of stars and balls and moons in all kinds of colours. “Did sprinkles get fancier?” He asked, tilting it this way and that.

Laughing, Beth took the vial from him and started to put them all in a different box that looked much the same as the first one.

“They might have,” she told him. “We use the fancy ones on cakes.”

“I didn’t get fancy sprinkles,” Rio said in mock offence.

Beth looked at him. “Good thing too. They would have been wasted on you and they would have gone everywhere.”

Rio was planning how best to tease her in reply when there was the sound of a car pulling up. Beth went to the door and waved to whoever was in the car.

“Thanks!” She called out, then stepped out of the door to let Jane in.

Jane got to the doorway and stopped.

“Hey peanut,” Rio greeted her with a smile. “How’s school?”

Looking at Beth, then at him, she started to sob. Rather than going to Beth, she came to Rio, reaching up.

Bending down, he lifted her up and let her bury her face in his neck. Beth set her hand on Jane’s back and started to rub.

“What’s wrong, bun?” Beth asked.

She didn’t answer, just kept crying and crying. Rio took it in stride, hoisting her up a little higher and carrying her into the living room so he could sit on the couch. She wasn’t heavy, but he had no idea how long he’d be holding her for.

Eventually she tired herself out and Rio found himself with a six-year-old sleeping on his chest. He wasn’t willing to move, didn’t want to risk waking her up.

“She say what it was about?” He tilted his head back to see Beth standing in the doorway.

“No,” Rio answered softly. Beth came over to sit on the edge of the couch. “But I have some guesses.”

Beth set her hand on Jane’s back. “What?”

“She was worried about going back to school.” Rio sighed. “Said she didn’t like the kids in her class. That they were boring. I didn’t push it too much, figure it was just first day nerves.”

Beth’s face was pale. “You think she’s being bullied?”

Rio shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t think she’s comfortable.”

The others must have heard Jane crying, but didn’t try to pester Beth about it. Emma set the table even though it was Jane’s turn and when Jane was quiet at dinner, they stepped in to fill the silence.

Kenny offered to kick a soccer ball around after dinner, something he didn’t often do, and by the time that they came back inside, Jane was cheerier, but it was still a marked change from her normal energy.

She was melancholy as she got ready for bed.

“You okay?” Rio stopped by her bedroom before she fell asleep.

Jane nodded.

He held out his hand and she took it. “You can talk to your mom or your dad or me or your Aunt Annie or Aunt Ruby or -“

She giggled softly and squeezed his hand. “I know.”

“And I’m sure Marcus would like a phone call from you every once in a while,” he said. “Now that you two don’t have soccer, he misses you.”

“Is he at his mom’s?” Jane asked. Rio nodded. “Can I have his phone number?”

Rio smiled. “I’ll write them down for you - mine and his mom’s.”

“Okay.” Jane let go of his hand. “Goodnight.”

“Night, peanut.” He set his hand on her head for a second, then left her room. The older three weren’t asleep yet, but he knew that Beth wasn’t as involved in their bedtime routines.

The sound of the TV drew him back downstairs to find Beth sitting on the couch, looking a little lost. She heard him coming and looked over at him and crumpled a little.

Rio joined her on the couch.

“Hey hey hey,” Rio spoke calmly as he stroked Beth’s shoulders and back. “It’s okay, Elizabeth.”

Beth wiped at her eyes.

“Jane’s gonna be fine,” he cupped the back of her neck, pressing his lips to her forehead. “It’s an adjustment and if it’s more than that, then we’ll deal with it.”

“I didn’t even notice that anything was wrong.”

“Maybe whatever it is just happened today,” he tried to say.

“I’ve been distracted,” Beth went on like she hadn’t heard him. “It’s the divorce and -“

He sighed, letting her cry it out, just like he had with Jane, just kept rubbing her back and occasionally wiping her cheeks.

At one point, Kenny came partway down the stairs, but seeing that Rio was with his mom, he retreated back upstairs.

Eventually, he got Beth to start getting herself ready for bed.

“You want me to stick around?” He asked, standing in the doorway of the bathroom as she washed her face. “I can leave early, before the kids wake up.”

She straightened. “That’s not necessary.”

“I know that,” he told her, stepping closer to put a hand on her back. “But I’m asking if you want me to. Or maybe just ’til you fall asleep?”

Beth let her weight rest against him. “Would you?”

“Yeah.” Rio kissed her temple. “I’ll lock up on my way out.”

So he did just that.

————————————

Friday, mid-morning, Beth gave Dean a call.

“I think that Jane might be having some trouble at school,” she told him.

“What?”

“Jane was upset when she came home yesterday and she hasn’t really wanted to talk about it.” Beth shifted. “I know she’s supposed to go with you for the weekend, but I was thinking that maybe she and I could have a mother-daughter day tomorrow.”

She kept going before he had a chance to protest.

“I’d drop her off for dinner,” she said. “But it might be easier for her to talk about it if there aren’t other people around.”

“Okay.”

Beth stopped pacing. “Yeah?”

“If something’s wrong, then we should do something, right?”

Beth blinked. His tone was so different from just weeks before when she’d brought up the possibility of Kenny needing someone to talk to.

“I talked with Kenny,” Dean said. “About how his,” he paused, “therapy is going. It sounds like it’s really helping him.”

“It is.” Beth sank down onto the edge of her bed.

Dean cleared his throat. “So keep me posted, yeah?”

“I will.” Beth rubbed her temple. She hung up and went to work on answering emails.

Solicitations for charity events, queries about their pricing. She deleted the junk, answered what she needed to, only stirring to go pick the kids up from school. Jane seemed a little happier, but still quiet. It was disconcerting to know that something was wrong and not be able to fix it.

——————

“Where’s your ma?” Rio asked Danny when he let himself into the house and found Danny doing homework.

“She’s in the office,” Danny answered. “Dad’s picking us up soon.”

Rio peeked at Danny’s work. “What are you working on?”

Danny held up a worksheet. “It’s for social studies. I have to read the text and answer these.”

“You doing okay?”

Danny nodded. “Almost done, then I’m gonna go outside.”

Rio smiled. “Sounds good. I’ll be in the kitchen. You have your stuff ready?”

“It’s by the door,” Danny said. Rio wasn’t surprised. They were pretty organized, even if Beth wasn’t chasing them down. He went down the hall to the office. Beth was lost in her work.

“Hey.” Rio leaned down to kiss her temple.

She startled, dropping her pen. “Holy shit, I didn’t hear you. Hi.”

“The girls still coming over tonight?” He asked and when she nodded, he kissed the top of her head. “Then finish this up. I can get dinner started.”

She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem. You good with spicy?” He stood up.

“Maybe not as spicy as you would normally do, but yes,” Beth smiled up at him, “I can handle spice.”

Jane was in the living room, wandering around and picking up Lego pieces. “You helping your mama out?” Rio asked.

Jane scowled. “Danny dropped his Legos earlier and he didn’t pick them all up.”

“I’ll help,” Rio crouched and picked up a couple of pieces, dumping them into the bin. “Maybe you can round up the pillows.” He looked around pointedly. Half of the throw pillows were on the floor, scattered all around.

“You can fold up the blankets,” Jane told him. “My arms aren’t long enough.”

Rio hummed and studied her. “I dunno. I bet you could.”

She shook her head.

“Not even if you had a partner?” He offered. “I think I need an extra hand.”

Jane giggled quietly, but gamely helped him fold up the blankets and drape them over the back of the couch and chairs.

“I’m gonna go get started on dinner for your mom and me. I’m in the kitchen if you need me,” he said as Jane moved on to the pillows. She nodded, occupied by her task.

The Bolands were quiet as he started on prep. The beef was browning and he was getting into the groove of cutting vegetables when Beth came in. He glanced up at her as he grabbed another pepper.

“I’m out of fleur de sel!” Beth threw up her hands.

Rio kept chopping peppers. She’d explain herself.

“Shit, I need it for the caramels and they’re closed all weekend until 10am on Monday and that’s too late!” She tucked her hair behind her ears and when it immediately slipped back down, she did it again.

“They open now?” Rio asked, lifting the cutting board and using the flat of the knife to move the peppers into the pot. He set it all down and turned towards her.

“Yeah,” Beth answered.

“Go pick it up,” Rio said, hand on Beth’s hip. “I’ll be here with the others. Dean shows up, he can start moving their stuff to his car.”

She pursed her lips, but nodded. “I’ll be back in half an hour.”

“Go.” He pushed her away and she went, Emma and Jane following after her.

“I’ll come with you, mom,” Emma said as she shoved her feet into her slip-on shoes and held out her hand to Rio. He passed her a pepper slice. “Thanks!” She started to munch on it as she left.

Jane hopped up onto a stool and kicked her feet back and forth. “Anything else I can clean up?” She asked.

Rio grinned, propping his elbows on the counter. “I’m sure your mama would be very happy if you put your laundry in the hamper.”

“Okay.” She held out her arms for him to lift her down even though she was big enough to climb down herself. He picked her up and set her down. “I’ll do that,” she said, then went off.

It took most of his attention to get everything prepped for dinner, but not so much that he wasn’t aware of the time. So when there was a knock on the kitchen door right before it opened, he wasn’t surprised. Dean, however, seemed very shocked to see Rio standing by the stove.

Rio eyed up Dean. They’d mostly avoided one another at the soccer games and practices, as well as at the end of year tournament. Whatever Beth had said to Dean seemed to have made him reluctant to be around Rio. Not that Rio was complaining. He didn’t exactly want to spend time with her ex.

“Elizabeth and Emma ran to the store,” Rio said. “Something about picking up specialty salt.”

Dean looked around. “Is your kid here too?”

Rio turned to the stove. “You mean Marcus?”

“Just the one?”

Even though Dean couldn’t see him, Rio lifted his eyebrow and shook his head. “Yeah, just the one. He’s having a sleepover with his cousins tonight.”

“So just you and Bethie?”

Rio grinned. And there it was. “Yeah, just me and Elizabeth,” he replied, setting the spoon on the weird little spoon plate thing that Beth kept insisting he use when he was cooking at her place before he turned around to look at Dean.

He didn’t mention that Annie and Ruby would be coming over later for reality TV night. If Dean couldn’t remember that standing ritual, that wasn’t Rio’s fault.

Dean opened his mouth to say something when Jane started thumping her way down the stairs.

“Daddy!” She caught sight of Dean and ran the rest of the way.

For all that he was a shitty husband, Beth’s ex seemed to be a halfway decent father. He bent down to lift Jane up and immediately started asking her all about her day.

“And when I came home,” Jane finished her review, “Rio and me tidied up the living room. I put all the pillows back and he folded the blankets and we found all of Danny’s Legos.”

“Is that right?” Dean asked. “Where’s your brother?”

“They’re both outside. Rio helped Danny build a ramp for his tracks,” Jane explained, though that wasn’t entirely true. It was less of a ramp and more of a support for one. It was also just a couple of pieces of wood and a few nails.

But Danny had been ecstatic to have help.

Rio smirked under Dean’s glare. He couldn’t help it. There was the sound of the van pulling up the drive and he saw Dean relax slightly. He would rather deal with Beth, obviously.

When Beth came in, it was clear that she was looking for any sign that the two of them might have butted heads, but Rio just went about cooking dinner as Beth and Dean discussed pick-up.

“Bye Rio!” Jane hugged him tightly and Rio gave her pigtail a tug.

“Bye peanut.”

Jane tilted her head back, waiting for him to give her a kiss on the head, so he did just that.

“Can Marcus come and play this week?” She asked before he straightened up.

Rio smiled. “He was wondering if maybe you wanted to come to our place to play again.”

“Okay!” Jane agreed.

“I’ll talk to your mom,” Rio said.

Jane shrugged like it was unimportant what her mother thought.

“Have fun at your dad’s,” he told her, shooing her off.

The kids left, the brief chaos of the handoff making the quiet after the door shut behind them even more pronounced. Rio turned on some music - partly to have something to cook to, partly to fill the silence. 

Beth disappeared for a few minutes, eventually coming out in a pair of yoga pants and a loose sweater. She’d started relaxing more and every time that she made it clear that she was comfortable with him, it made Rio smile.

“Hi,” she said, coming to stand at the stove with him.

He chuckled, then bent down to kiss her. “Hey. You get your salt situation sorted out?”

She hummed, lifting the lid on the pot. “All fixed. Need any help?”

“You want to prep the salad, I wouldn’t say no. Everything’s all ready, just needs to be washed and put together.”

Beth replaced the lid and went to the fridge, pulling out the ingredients as he called them out.

“Get everything sorted out for your day with Jane?” Rio asked.

“Yup.” She pushed up the sleeves of her sweater and started to wash vegetables. “Picking her up before lunch. We’re gonna go out to a place she likes, paint your own pottery.”

Rio walked over and brushed her hair off the back of her neck. “It’ll be okay.”

“You keep saying that,” she sighed.

“And you keep doubting me.” Rio shook his head. “It’s gonna be all good. You’ll see. What time do Annie and Ruby come over?”

“Anytime between 8:30 and 9:30,” Beth told him. “Depends what they’ve got going on. But Housewives doesn’t start until 10.”

“Is it alright if I use the desk in the office?”

She turned her head towards him. “Of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know,” Rio shrugged, “that’s why I asked.”

“It’s alright for you to use the desk,” Beth said, putting her hand on his chest. “You may use it any time you like.”

“Good to know.”

He finished up with dinner, taking it off the heat. Beth dug in enthusiastically, wanting to know what everything was, what was in it, how he’d made it.

“Wanna make out?” Rio asked once the dishes were all loaded into the dishwasher or soaking.

Beth blinked up at him. “What?”

“Wanna make out?” Rio repeated. “We’ve got time before they show up. An hour even.”

“And you just want to make out?” Beth asked.

“Why not?”

Beth tilted her head to the side. “Okay.”

Rio took her hand and tugged her to the couch.

“Oh, did you tidy up in here?” Beth asked, looking around.

“Nah, that was Jane. Although I did help with the blankets.” He fell back onto the couch and pulled her down, half on top of him.

Beth laughed, kissing his lips quickly. “Well, thank you for helping with the blankets,” she said.

“You’re welcome.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and slid his other hand into her hair. He didn’t pull her down towards him, just content to look up at her for a little bit. Beth rolled her eyes and lowered her head down until their lips were pressed together.

Rio might have said he wanted to make out, but his hands quickly found their way up underneath her shirt as he repositioned them so that he was on top.

He pushed her shirt up, running his hands up her ribs. She shifted under him, but he didn’t pay attention until the cups of her bra loosened and he was able to shove that up too.

He made a noise of contentment as he palmed her breast and lowered his mouth onto her nipple. He sucked lightly, just teasing.

Beth sighed. “That feels good.”

“Good,” Rio lifted his mouth long enough to say before descending onto her other nipple.

She rubbed the back of his head, the tips of his ears. He stayed where he was for a moment more, then shifted to kiss her again.

Beth welcomed the kiss, arching her back to rub her bare chest against the flannel of his button-up. It was soft from use and washing, but felt almost abrasive to her sensitive nipples. She whimpered as he spread his palm over her side.

“They’re so pretty,” he said, tweaking her nipple. “And they get prettier when I get them all red.”

Beth slid her hands between the buttons of his shirt and undid a couple at the top. She scratched her nails lightly over his nipples. It didn’t do much for him, but he kissed the hinge of her jaw, following it with a nip.

“I changed my mind,” Rio said. “I don’t want to make out.” He sat up, his hands coming to the button of her jeans.

“Wait, wait,” Beth protested, grabbing his hands even though he’d already stopped. “They’ll know. If we do it here.”

His lips pulled up into a crooked smile. “In that case, let’s move this to the bedroom.”

\------------

Rio stood up, reaching down to tug Beth upright as well. Feeling a little giddy, Beth started to move towards her room, passing him in her rush to get there. He laughed, lengthening his stride to keep up with her.

As soon as they were through the door, he reached out to stop her. Faster than she could blink, Rio’d moved them to the vanity, pulling her pants and underwear down in a single motion. Before she could say anything about the fact that she was still wearing her socks, he lifted her left foot onto the stool and dropped to his knees.

“Rio!” Beth shrieked, clutching at his head from balance as he buried his face between her thighs. “Oh fuck,” she hunched over slightly. Slowly she registered the touch of his hands - one on the leg he’d hoisted up, stroking up and down the outside of her thigh, and the other on her hip.

“I’m gonna fall,” she tried to insist, but he didn’t even dignify that with a response, which Beth took to mean something along the lines of, “No, you fucking won’t.”

Her eyes slipped shut as he basically repeated what he’d been doing earlier, only this time it wasn’t her mouth he was licking into. Beth moaned, grabbing onto Rio’s shoulder.

She was rubbing against his face, holding him close with the hand that was still clutching the back of his head. She started to pant.

She shuddered as he applied pressure against a particular point on her clit. He shifted to suck on it, two of his fingers coming up to tease without penetrating her.

Rio’s head lifted and he looked up at her for a moment with a crooked grin. She could see how shiny his lips and jaw were and the sight of it made her twitch. It was just so…so…

She couldn’t string the thought together, distracted by him pressing his mouth against her again.

Her head fell back as she gnawed on the inside of her cheek. She whined, knees giving out as she began to come on his tongue.

Rio moved his hands quickly to grab her, holding her up and against his face as he continued to eat her out. Finally, he pulled away.

Beth groaned, covering her eyes. She heard his soft laugh, then felt him press a quick kiss to her mound before slowly taking his hands away.

He patted her ankle and she uncovered her face. He was holding her panties ready for her to step into, a pleased expression on his face. Beth, face burning, lifted her feet and let him dress her. Her pants were a little trickier, but he got them up her legs too.

Beth registered the neon numbers of her alarm clock and groaned. “They’ll be here soon.”

“Then that’s my cue,” he said, adjusting himself as he stood. Beth’s eyes were fixed on his groin and he chuckled. “We can take care of that later.”

She tilted her head back so that she was looking up at his face. “Promise?”

He bent down to kiss her on the lips. She could taste herself on his tongue. “Promise. I’ll come out at some point and say hi. You need me, I’m just in the office.”

She nodded and stepped away, a little shaky. Remembering that Annie and Ruby were probably moments away from bursting in, she dashed to the bathroom, righting her clothes as she did. Her chest was reddened, but thankfully it was all covered by her shirt. There was no hiding the flush on her cheeks or the slightly dazed look in her eyes, but she could hope that they didn’t notice.

She heard the kitchen door open right as she left the bathroom, tugging her top into place.

Annie came in, arms filled with chips. “Don’t worry, I got your gross veggie chips. I can’t believe that your kids are willing to eat that nonsense.”

“They’re good!” Beth protested, but Annie’s look of disgust said it all.

Beth took the bags from Annie and separated out the ones that she would let the kids have as snacks.

“Hey!” Ruby said, coming in through the kitchen door as well. “Does this look like something Sara might have borrowed from Emma?” She held up a paperback.

Beth frowned. “Maybe?”

Ruby shrugged and tossed it onto the counter. “Well, she had a stack of books on her floor that I was making her clean up. When I asked if any weren’t hers, she took a couple out, but didn’t even tell me where she got them from. I’ve figured most of them out, but not this one.”

Ruby took a post-it from the fridge and wrote something. “I’ll leave this here. If it isn’t Emma’s, then send it back and I’ll figure out where the hell Sara got it from.”

Beth nodded. “Just put it over by their school things?”

“Aye aye.” Ruby put the book with their extra school things. “You guys start pouring yet?”

Annie went to the cupboard and pulled down a bottle of red. “This okay to drink?”

Beth looked over her shoulder as she took out bowls for the chips. “Yeah, that’s fine.” She dumped the salt and vinegar chips in one bowl, the popcorn in another, and the pretzels in a third. “Can you get me a -“

A glass floated into her field of vision. Annie shook it. “Bourbon?”

“Thank you,” Beth said, taking the drink. “Rio’s here by the way, doing some work in the office.”

“He want a drink?” Ruby asked. “Some snacks?”

Beth shook her head. “He’ll come out if he wants something.”

Ruby grinned at that answer. “Look at you, letting a man do his own damn fetching!”

Annie laughed, nearly choking on her mouthful of popcorn. Beth blushed and turned away from the two of them to carry bowls to the living room. The others followed after her, dropping into their familiar positions on the couch.

“It’s September,” Annie said.

Ruby patted her leg. “That’s right, sweetie. And what month comes after that?”

“Oh fuck off,” Annie muttered. “I meant that it’s pretty much fall. I want a blanket.”

“It’s still hot!” Ruby protested, but Annie had already forced herself upright to get a blanket from the basket. “You better keep that off of me,” Ruby warned her, “I do not want to overheat.”

Annie held up the blanket, then began to wrap it around herself like a toga. Once done, she bent - a little stiffly - to pick up her glass of wine. “Caesar sum,” she said, solemnly. “Et tu, Brute?”

Beth shook her head at her younger sister’s antics. “I don’t think those are from the same thing.”

“So?” Annie returned to the couch. “They reference the same person, so it counts. I read Julius Caesar in high school, same as you.”

Ruby laughed. “No you didn’t. You threatened to beat up Scott Lane if he didn’t do your homework for you.”

“No,” Annie held up a hand, “I offered to hold his hand if he did my homework for me. He did. I held his hand for a full five minutes and then made out with his brother over Memorial Day weekend. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t read the play! I just didn’t want to do my assignment.”

Beth sipped her bourbon, unable to work up much energy to join Ruby and Annie’s conversation.

“What’s up with you today?” Ruby finally broke.

It took Beth a moment to realize that she was being spoken to, making Ruby and Annie exchange troubled looks.

“Is something up with Rio?” Annie guessed.

Beth shook her head. “Jane.”

She spilled the story of everything that had been going on. Ruby and Annie moved closer, offering physical comfort.

“Shit, you know what you’re going to do?” Annie asked, rubbing Beth’s shoulder.

“No idea. But I’m gonna pick Jane up from Dean’s in the morning and have a day with her, see if she’ll talk to me.” She pushed her hair out of her face.

“I’m sure she will,” Ruby assured her. “She’s got spunk, but she’s probably just having some trouble adjusting. It’s not uncommon. Remember Sara? She cried for weeks when she started kindergarten, even though when I went to pick her up at the end of the day, it was practically a battle to get her to leave!”

Beth remembered. Not just the crying, but the crying that Ruby had done on her way to work afterwards, convinced that she was a bad mother. Sara had grown to love school and by November of that year, she’d been insisting that she was going to become a teacher.

Beth caught Rio walking softly down the hallway. “You don’t have to sneak,” she told him. Ruby and Annie both looked over the back of the couch.

“Didn’t want to interrupt,” he replied.

It was Ruby that waved him over. “Nah, come sit for a few minutes. Then we’ll kick you back out so we can watch Real Housewives.”

Laughing, Rio came into the living room and took a handful of popcorn. He sat on the arm of a chair as he ate it. “It’s ladies’ night,” he said after swallowing.

“Stan occasionally participates in ladies’ night,” Annie said. “Usually to feed us.”

Rio surveyed their spread. “I think you’re good,” he drawled. Ruby giggled. “But if you want to get sloshed, I can drive you home.”

“Thank you for the offer,” Ruby said, “but I get to be up bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“And I just don’t want to be hungover tomorrow,” Annie sighed. “When did I become an adult, you guys?”

“In like…’07?” Ruby looked like she was trying to calculate exactly when it was.

Annie tossed some popcorn at Ruby and Beth nudged her sister. “You gonna clean that up?” Annie looked a little sheepish as she shook her head. “Then don’t do it.”

“What do you think about this Jane stuff?” Ruby asked.

Rio froze, glancing between her and Beth. “I think it’s an adjustment for her,” he started slowly. “Something more than it just being first grade, new teacher, all that. She’s had a lot of changes in her life going on. But, I think she’ll be okay.”

He stood up. “I just came out to make some tea,” Rio said. “Can I get you anything?”

Beth tilted her head back and shook her head, feeling pleasantly buzzed.

“Alright,” he reached out and ran his thumb over Beth’s lips. With that, he left the living room and Beth could hear him taking out the kettle and filling it.

“Mmm,” Annie hummed. “That man has got it going on.”

Beth groaned, but Ruby covered her mouth. “Oh yeah,” she said quietly. “I know I said that I didn’t need a lot of details but I feel that things have changed and I’m gonna need more details.”

Beth leaned towards the coffee table to grab her bourbon. “I am not drunk enough for this conversation.”

“Oh,” Annie said, “I can fix that.”

By the time Housewives actually started, Beth was a little bit more buzzed and Rio had made his tea before retreating back to the office.

“Like, you guys had a sex weekend,” Annie said, wide eyed. “I don’t know if I should be proud of you, jealous, or what.”

Beth buried her face in her hands, then bolted back upright. “Jealous. You should definitely be jealous.” She grinned as she recalled Rio coming back from his run, waking up tangled in the sheets with him, dancing on the deck.

“She looks way too dreamy right now,” Annie complained, nudging Beth with her toe.

Ruby whistled. “You were moving a little stiffly when we came over. He blow out your back or something?”

“He’s just really, really good with his mouth,” Beth admitted. “In like, all the possible ways. And his hands and his,” she lowered her voice as she leaned towards Ruby and Annie, “penis.”

Annie grinned and patted her on the thigh. “I don’t understand how you have four kids and still get skittish around sex talk.”

“I do not!” Beth protested. “Rio and I have had phone sex!”

“Go back to the stuff about his dick,” Ruby demanded.

Beth giggled. “He’s really, really, really sexy,” she gushed. “And he always checks in with me.”

“Like, constantly?” Annie made a face.

“No,” Beth said, pushing at her sister so that Annie swayed. “But like,” her gaze went unfocused, “he’ll tell me what he’s gonna do and be all “How’s that sound, Elizabeth?”,” she tried to lower her voice to mimic Rio, “and one time I started to cry, so he stopped and we talked for a bit.”

Ruby patted her head. “Bee, him stopping because you were crying is not something that you should be surprised by.”

Annie’s eyes had narrowed. “Did Dean -“ she didn’t finish her question.

“Not like that,” Beth sighed. “He just wasn’t really aware of how I was feeling.” She shrugged.

“Damn, Bee,” Ruby muttered. “You’re making me want to chase ol’ Deansy down and run over him with the SUV.”

“I’ll help,” Annie offered, hugging Beth from the side.

Beth laughed, hugging her back.

“Why are you laughing?” Annie lifted her head from Beth’s shoulder.

“Because I don’t care,” Beth held out her other arm for Ruby, “and neither should you. He’s gone. I’m not holding onto him in my head anymore. I don’t want you guys to be doing it for me. Let’s just…forget about Dean.”

“Who are you and what have you done to my sister?” Annie asked. “Because that sounded nothing like Elizabeth Marks.”

Ruby nodded. “I guess the dick really is that good.”

Beth groaned as the two of them dissolved into laughter.

They made it through the rest of the episode without mishap and after helping Beth tidy up a little, Annie and Ruby left with hugs and kisses and demands for updates on Jane.

Rio was reclined on the bed, reading, when Beth went in after locking up. He’d stripped everything but his boxer-briefs, which Beth was delighted to realize were red. She giggled. He looked up.

“What?”

She came into the room. “The red’s a cute look,” she told him.

His brows furrowed, but then he realized what she meant. “It’s my only pair, so don’t get too excited.”

Laughing, Beth climbed onto the bed and spread out next to him. “What if I want to get excited?”

Rio didn’t hide his interest and when she cupped him through the thin fabric of his underwear, he twitched. “Then by all means, get excited.”

Beth tugged him towards the edge of the bed.

“Someone’s feeling pleased with herself,” Rio drawled, letting her direct him into the position she wanted. “You drunk?”

Beth hold up her thumb and forefinger a little distance apart. “Maybe a little bit. But the horny kind.” She started to tug on the waistband of his underwear. “I want to suck you off.”

She slid onto her knees, pulling his boxer-briefs off.

“You have a beautiful penis,” Beth told him, tilting her head back to look him in the eye.

Rio’s lips were twitching. “Thank you, I guess.”

She took him in hand, enjoying the way that he jumped in her grip. “It’s really nice,” she said, breathing over the tip.

“I’m glad you think so.” His voice got a little shakier when Beth lowered her mouth over the head and sucked, running her tongue over the slit. She kept moving her hand up and down the shaft as she worked her mouth further and further down.

Rio’s thigh was trembling under her free hand. She scratched him lightly, nothing more than a tease of her nails, but it had him hissing.

Pulling off to adjust her position, Beth spat on his cock, then spread it down his length.

“Fuck, Elizabeth,” Rio cursed. He brushed her hair back. 

She hummed, then bobbed down again, taking him further than she had been, gagging slightly before retreating. She moaned around his cock and his grip on her hair tightened for a moment before he let go to palm her neck.

Rio pushed his cock a little further into Beth’s mouth. “Jesus,” he groaned, massaging the back of her neck as she knelt between his legs.”You always like this after a couple of drinks?” He asked.

She pulled off. “No,” she said, working him with her hand. “Just with you.”

He started to smile, but she sucked him back into her mouth and he moaned.

From there, it was just the sounds of her sucking him off and his sounds of pleasure.

“Baby, baby,” Rio pulled her off after she gagged again. “I’m gonna come.”

“That’s the point,” she snapped, then batted his hand away. She sank back onto his cock, her hands spanning the tops of his thighs as much as possible, thumbs rubbing up and down the crease where his thighs met his pelvis, just barely teasing his balls.

She managed to look up at him as his head fell back, leaving the column of his neck tense. She wanted to get her fingers on it, trail them across the bird, down to the heart, but the angle was awkward. So she settled for rubbing at the spot behind Rio’s balls as she sucked.

Rio practically whined as his orgasm hit. Beth swallowed as she bobbed on his cock, sucking him deeper, then retreating as she drained him.

He hissed as she let him fall from her mouth with a last suck, falling back to pant up at the ceiling.

Beth wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and stood. Rio recovered when she was almost completely naked.

He struggled back upright and watched her.

“I gotta brush my teeth later,” Beth said, “or my mouth’s gonna be real nasty in the morning.”

Rio choked on his laughter, but nodded.

“Don’t let me just go to bed,” she instructed.

“I won’t,” he promised, crooking his finger at her. Beth crawled up the length of his body until their faces were even. “C’mere,” he said softly, pulling her into a kiss that was far too sweet. Beth melted into it, letting Rio roll them so that she was on her back.

Rio coaxed her into opening her legs around his waist until she was pressed so close that she could rub against his stomach. Which she did, several times.

He broke the kiss to plant little kisses down the line of her jaw. Lifting himself off of her, he made his way down her chest, her belly, until he was practically curled up on his side. His fingers brushed up the inside of her thigh until they were just rubbing back and forth, dipping in just briefly to feel how wet she was before pulling away.

He did that a few times, then did it all at once - pushing two fingers all the way in and latching onto her clit.

Beth cursed. “Oh god.”

The angle was awkward, but Rio was making the most of it. The two fingers that he had inside of her were rubbing against her front walls as he flicked her clit with his tongue. She was feeling shaky, like it was bordering on too much.

“You keep doing this!” Beth gasped as he curled his fingers.

“You want me not to?”

That sounded far worse, but Beth pouted as she replied. “No, no, I like it.”

He laughed against her, rubbing the flat of his tongue over her sensitive nerves. His fingers were applying relentless pressure against the same spot inside of her and Beth started to squirm as the strangeness of the sensation she was feeling registered.

“Rio,” she whined. “Rio.”

“Uh huh,” he pulled long enough to mutter before diving back in. She felt like she was going to lose it.

Beth’s leg jerked. “Rio!” She pushed at his head. “Too much, too much.” His fingers let up, no longer rubbing that spot inside her. Instead, he fucked them in and out, tugging at her entrance as he did. The overwhelming sensation faded, but the pleasure didn’t.

If anything, it still felt a little like it was too much, but in the best way. His tongue and fingers were overwhelming her senses, zeroing all of her focus onto the points of contact between them.

Beth moaned, her legs trembling as she fought to keep them open as she reached her peak.

A couple more flicks of his tongue was all it took for her. Rio worked her through her orgasm, his fingers coaxing little bursts of pleasure in counterpoint to the rhythm of his tongue and lips as he brought his other hand down between her legs to pull back the hood of her clit.

Beth cried out as he paid attention to the exposed nerves. She had to grab onto the sheets as he rubbed her with his tongue and lips, drawing out her peak until she had to shove at his head again. Even then, he didn’t pull away right away. He kissed her clit, then let go and slowly took his fingers out. It took her a second to realize that he was making shushing noises as she came down.

He nuzzled her thigh. “One day,” he said as he rose up the bed until he was lying next to her, “I’ll keep going, get you squirting on my hand.”

Beth shivered, throwing her arm over her eyes. 

He tugged her arm away and she blinked up at him.

Rio lifted his brow. “Need me to corral you to the bathroom?”

Beth pushed off the bed and shook her head, then turned around and went to the en suite. The pleasant buzz stayed through her bedtime routine, although when she tried to put on her pajamas, they weren’t there.

“Rio,” she left the bathroom, “where’re my pjs?” She rubbed her eyes.

He’d put away his book. “Under your pillow, I’d assume. Where you left ‘em.”

“Oh,” she said, standing in the middle of the room. “I forgot to take them with me.”

Rio patted the bed. “Come to bed. Sleep naked with me.”

That sounded reasonable and way better than putting her pajamas on, so she crawled into bed and wrapped herself around Rio’s chest. His hands came up to settle on her back.

“You had a good night with Annie and Ruby?” He asked, stroking up and down her spine.

Beth nodded.

“Sounded like it.” His tone was amused. “I could hear the three of you cackling.”

She groaned, though it turned into a giggle. “Oh god. Don’t worry, I told them you were great in bed.” She patted him, which turned to her stroking his belly.

“Well, that’s a relief.” One of his hands settled, warm, on her ass.

“Now be quiet, I’m going to sleep,” Beth mumbled.

“Night, Elizabeth.”

She might have said “Night, Rio”, but it may just have been a few mumbled nonsense syllables because she was already falling asleep.

———————

Beth groaned, rolling over in bed. She felt the bed shake.

“Feeling that extra glass?” Rio asked softly.

Beth made a face. She didn’t feel awful. Just…tired.

“Ibuprofen on the nightstand,” he told her, kissing her cheek, then getting out of bed. “I’ll run the coffee maker on my way out.”

“You’re going?” She asked, opening her eyes. Her voice was a little rougher than usual and her cheeks burned as she remembered why.

“I gotta work today, remember,” he said, brushing hair out of her face. “Then it’s off to get Marcus.”

Beth smiled. “Take him some cookies,” she instructed.

“Oh, just for him?” Rio palmed her cheek. “I’m hurt.”

Beth just laughed. “I know you’re going to take them for yourself. I’m just reminding you to take some for him too.”

“Call me later?”

She was lost for a moment until he clarified.

“Let me know how it goes with Jane.”

“Oh,” Beth nodded, “right.”

Right.

————————

Jane started to bounce in her seat when she saw where they were going. “Can I paint a mug?” She asked.

“You sure you want to do a mug again, bun?” Beth helped her out of the car and held her hand as they crossed the lot to the Paint It Yours - Mugs! T-shirts! Vases!

Jane nodded. “Rio doesn’t have one,” she said, “and all the mugs at his house are boring. I want to make him one.”

Beth smiled. “I’m sure he’d love that, Jane.”

They picked their items - mug for Jane and a small bowl for Beth - and went to the table to start painting. Jane, it seemed, had a vision in her head about how Rio’s mug should look and she began to very carefully spread blue paint onto it.

“What are you going to paint, Mommy?” Jane asked when she went to load up on more paint.

“I think,” Beth started to apply black paint to the inside of the bowl, “I’m going to paint it like the night sky.”

“That’s pretty,” Jane said. “Is it for Rio too?”

Beth shook her head. “I was thinking I’d put it in the laundry room to collect all those things you leave in your pockets,” she teased.

Jane lifted her gaze and shook her head. “I always check my pockets!” She insisted, even though Beth had definitely pulled out several pieces of paper, a quarter, some hair ties and a piece of Lego out of Jane’s clothing just that morning before putting it in the wash.

Conversation started out shallow. Beth asked what they’d had for dinner last night at Dean’s. Had they watched a movie? What book was Dean reading as her bedtime story?

Jane seemed content enough as she answered Beth’s questions and asked a couple of her own. How did you spell Rio? What did he make the two of them for dinner last night? Would he make that for them all one night, did Beth think?

“I’m sure he’d love to be asked,” Beth told her, dotting gold paint into little stars.

“Maybe Marcus can come over too,” Jane suggested. “Can he come and play next week?”

Rio had already mentioned it, so Beth nodded.

“Done,” Jane declared, dropping her paintbrush. “Look, mommy!”

Beth set her own brush down more carefully before studying the mug that Jane had painted. She had very carefully written his name vertically in black paint opposite the handle and had surrounded it with birds.

“It’s really good, Jane!” Beth smiled at the bluebird that she must have started with. Ever since Rio had started to sketch around the kids, she’d noticed that all of them had taken to joining him. He offered them advice for how to draw certain shapes, how to shade. Emma had taken to it the most, but Beth couldn’t deny that all four of her kids had improved artistically.

“Thanks. Yours is really good too, mama.” Jane squirmed a bit. “Are they gonna glaze them now?”

Beth was close enough to done with her bowl, so she nodded. “We can get a hot chocolate while we wait. How’s that sound?”

Jane happily accepted the offer and they went next door to the small café to wait for their items to be glazed.

“Is something happening at school?” Beth asked, pushing Jane’s hair off of her face.

Jane kicked her legs. Shook her head.

“You can tell me, bun.”

Jane let her head fall against Beth’s arm. “I don’t like it.”

“No?” It wasn’t unusual for kids to not like school. It wasn’t like the other kids did love it or had always loved it, in Emma’s case.

“It’s boring,” Jane said. “I do all my work and then I just have to sit there and Mrs. H says I can’t take out my book.”

Beth blinked at that. “She does?”

Jane nodded. “Even though I got perfect on my spelling sheet!”

“Does this happen with a lot of your school work?” Beth asked. “Did it happen last year?”

“No, ‘cuz Ms. K would let me draw or go to the book corner if I was done. Can I go back to Ms. K’s class?’ Jane looked to Beth.

“Doesn’t work like that, honey. But how about on Monday I give Mrs. H a call and talk to her about this?” Beth offered. “Maybe she doesn’t know that you’re actually done your work and she thinks that you just want to play.”

“I told her that I am!” Jane insisted.

Beth smiled at her daughter. “I know, bun. Sometimes adults don’t listen to kids as well as they should.”

Jane sipped at her hot chocolate, ending up with whipped cream on her upper lip, which she licked off with a giggle.

“Is it during all your classes?” Beth asked.

Jane nodded, then shook her head. “Not gym class or art class.”

“Right.” Beth set her hand on Jane’s back. “We’ll figure something out. Can you be patient for a few more days?”

“Yeah.”

Beth turned their conversation towards happier things - the upcoming birthday party for a girl in her class, the taekwondo classes that she and Marcus wanted to sign up for - until it was time to pick up their finished items.

Jane held Beth’s hand as they walked out of the pottery painting place, the mug she’d painted for Rio carefully wrapped, along with the bowl that Beth had decorated.

“Is Rio gonna be there when we come back home?” Jane asked.

“Not sure, sweetie,” Beth said, opening the van door. “He’s working this weekend, but maybe we can invite him and Marcus for dinner this week.”

Jane nodded. “I’d like that.” She got into her seat and buckled herself up as Beth watched.

“You can’t show him the mug!” Jane reminded Beth once they reached Dean’s. “Can you put it in my room?”

“I can,” Beth promised. “Right in your room.”

“Okay. I want to give it to him,” Jane said as Beth helped her out of her carseat and walked her to the door. Dean saw them coming and opened the door. “Hey Daddy! Bye Mommy.”

“I’ll see you on Monday,” Beth replied, bending down to give Jane a kiss. “Have fun with your dad.”

“She talk to you?” Dean asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Beth gave him a quick explanation. “I was thinking I’d try to get in touch with her teacher on Monday, maybe make an appointment to go in to talk.”

Dean nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

“Right, well I’m gonna head out.” Beth stepped back. “Take care. Kiss the kids goodnight.”

“Alright,” he said with a nod.

Eating dinner without Rio, the kids, Annie or Ruby was _lonely_. She had kind of forgotten, never really having this kind of time to herself much these days.

Checking her phone, she found several messages from Annie, Ruby, and Rio. They were essentially all the same thing, variations of _How’d it go?_ that she didn’t really know how to answer. Rubbing her nose, she sent a brief explanation to the group chat, with a promise to explain further when they met for coffee that week.

_It was okay,_ she told Rio. _Call when you guys are done with dinner and you’re free?_

Her phone rang a minute later.

“Hey.” Rio’s voice immediately set her at ease.

“Hi,” she said. “You didn’t need to call right away.”

“We had an early dinner,” Rio replied, “now Pop’s got some TV time.”

Beth smiled. “You on the fire escape again?”

“No. My girlfriend was worried it was dangerous,” he teased. “I’m in bed. You eat yet?”

“It’s in the oven.”

He hummed. “Whatcha having?”

Beth poured herself a drink and a glass of water. “I’m roasting vegetables to go with some of those leftovers from last night.”

“Sounds good,” he said, voice all soft. Beth could just picture him in bed, lying on that comfortable mattress, propped up enough on the pillows to keep an eye on Marcus. “How is she?”

“Jane, I assume you mean.”

He grunted.

“She’s okay.” Beth pinched the bridge of her nose and rubbed. “Apparently she’s been finishing her work early, but her teacher won’t let her take out a book or do anything else while she waits for the others to finish too.”

“She needs more of a challenge,” Rio said. Beth nodded. “That something she’ll be able to get at her school?”

Beth sighed. “I don’t know. It’s the weekend, so I can’t contact her teacher, but I’ll get in touch on Monday. See what we can do. Even if she can just take out her book and read when she’s done, it would be a big improvement. It’s a big class, so it’s not like I can ask her teacher to start coming up with extra lessons just for Jane to do.”

Rio made a noise of agreement. “Maybe get her a notebook, sketchpad, something she can work in. I’m sure you can find some stuff online or in the library that has suggestions for activities, at least in the short term.”

“And for the long term?” Beth said.

“You’ve got a smart kid.” She could picture him shrugging. “Maybe going forward, you enroll her somewhere else, somewhere that they can give her more of a challenge. There’s a few in the area with different focuses - arts, academics.”

Which would likely be a huge expense. A pit settled in Beth’s stomach at that idea. Her finances had finally recovered from Hurricane Dean, were starting to look up even. She’d been able to step up her contributions to the kids’ college funds and to her own retirement.

“What are you thinking?”

Beth blinked. She had fallen silent and Rio had noticed. “I’m thinking about how expensive that would be,” she admitted.

“Ah. There’s probably funding available. We’ll look into it. No sense in borrowing tomorrow’s troubles,” he told her. Beth bit her lip at that, not able to stop her smile. “You paint some pottery?”

“We did,” Beth went with the change in subject, “and it’s very nice.”

He laughed. “Wouldn’t imagine any different.”

“Jane was wondering about spending time with Marcus this week,” Beth said. “I’m sure she’d love to spend some time at your place, then you guys could bring her back and have dinner here.”

“Sounds good to me. Hold on, Marcus wants to say something.”

There were some murmurs, then Marcus came on with a cheerful, “Hi!”

“Hi honey,” Beth smiled, “how was your day?”

“It was good. Thank you for the cookies! Dad let me have two for dessert.”

“Oh, did he?” Beth got up to go check on her dinner.

“Uh huh. How was your day today?”

Beth bit her lip at his polite query. “It was good. Spent some time with Jane.”

“Dad said she can come over this week,” Marcus said. “An’ I’m gonna visit your house again soon too, right?”

“Yup,” she promised. “After you and Jane hang out, he’s going to bring you both over and you’ll have dinner here.”

“Oh! What are we gonna have?” There was talking in the background, then Marcus sighed. “Dad says that I shouldn’t ask that and he’s doing the thing where he starts tapping his fingers because he’s impatient. Bye! Thanks for the cookies!”

She heard some laughter, then Rio came back on. “See what kind of disrespect I deal with?” The laughter in the background got louder.

“No, Daddy! No tickling!”

Rio’s lower chuckle followed. “I clearly gotta spend some time teaching this boy how to be polite,” his tone was teasing as he said it, “so I’m gonna let you go while I do that.”

Beth smiled. “Have a good night.”

“Call me later, if you need to talk, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Night, ‘lizabeth,” he said, his throaty voice dropping even lower.

Beth hung up and went about with her evening. As she ate, she trawled Pinterest, looking for craft project inspiration. On a whim, she searched “beanie knit pattern” and fell down a hole of options. She hadn’t made Rio anything before and with the weather getting cooler, a hat made sense.

From there, it was just a hop, skip, and a jump to hunting for patterns for kids’ knit hats. She could make one for Marcus same time.

Picking two patterns and printing them out, Beth went to evaluate her yarn collection, happy to have a project. Something to occupy her hands and mind with, to keep her from panicking about Jane. As she tugged out a skein of black yarn, she smiled to herself. Rio’d been wearing a beanie the first time they met, wearing it just like he did his hoodies - half on, half off.

Beth shook her head. That man really needed to learn how to wear clothing properly.

**Author's Note:**

> In addition to my usual thank yous to my betas - medievalraven and neveroffanon - and to y’all for reading, thanks to foxmagpie for answering some questions I had about the American school system. Despite the last line, I am pro Rio's dressing/styling habits. As usual, if there's content I haven't tagged for, that you think should be, please let me know.
> 
> Title from the always classic Billy S. by Skye Sweetnam.


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